Just the Usual
by HawkwardDolphin
Summary: Beckett and Castle investigate the murder of a famous business woman. Set before "Caskett" happens.
1. Intro

Castle woke up chilled, lying alone in his bed. He had just caught up on sleep from the last case he and Kate had worked on. Together.

He smiled when he thought about her. The way her hair fell on her shoulders and the way she smiled when he brought her a daily cup of morning coffee. That reminded him of why he had to get up this morning. He threw on clothes and his heavy jacket and rushed out the door.

Or, at least, he tried.

"Where are you going this early?" Martha called from the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen with his hands raised in a confused way.

"What are you doing up this early?" he asked, glancing at the clock. _Beckett's already at work. She needs that coffee!_

"Well, you know me. I'm an early riser!" Martha exclaimed.

"No, you're not, actually," Castle said, trying to figure out the quickest way to the door from where he was standing.

"Ah, well, I thought I'd give it a try," his mother said, stirring her tea with a spoon. Soon, there were footsteps running down the steps.

"Alexis? What are you doing up?" Castle asked his daughter. She sat down next to Martha and made herself a cup of tea.

"You know me, Dad. I'm a early riser!" she said.

"What's going on?" Castle asked the two suspicious characters sitting in front of him.

"Nothing," they chimed together. After a minute of silence, Castle thought it was safe to leave. He closed the door on two snickering women. He shook his head and headed off to the coffee shop.

* * *

Kate was sitting at her desk, examining nothing in particular. She was waiting.

"Morning," Ryan said, walking up to Kate. She smiles up at him.

"But not a good one?" she asked.

"Not precisely, Kate. Look at the paper," he said as he threw that morning's newspaper on the desk in front of her. Kate read over it quickly.

"55 year old Amanda Trender found dead in her home. Daughter unconscious?" Kate said looking up at him. Ryan nodded and Kate continued on. "At 9 A.M. yesterday?"

"They missed the deadline for the morning paper, so they put it in today. It's all over the news," Ryan said, sipping his coffee. Kate put her eyes down. Why was she sad about coffee? _It's just a cup of coffee._

"Trender…" Kate said to herself. She stood up and walked to her white board. She taped the paper up on it and wrote the name Trender under it in red marker.

"The wealthy business woman," Ryan answers.

"Who Amanda Trender? Heard she was murdered," Esposito says, walking up beside Kate. He threw a wink at her and looked at the article. He had a mug in his hand too. Kate looked at her board again. _C'mon Kate, it's a coffee. This is a case, focus_.

* * *

"Hey, Rick!" called Travis from behind the coffee shop counter.

"Hey, Travis!" Castle said back, pretending to look at the menu. Travis simply pretended to clean the counter, already knowing Castle's order. "Ummm, I guess I'll have…"

"The usual, Castle?" Travis asked. Castle smiled, looking down at the cashier from the menu board.

"Yes. Just the usual."

* * *

*A/N Alright, I don't have a lot of this written, but here is the beginnings of a Castle fanfic. Review if you want me to write more!*


	2. Keep It In Mind

"No, it wouldn't have been the husband, he was across the country!" Kate argued with Ryan.

"Whose husband? Who was murdered this time?" Castle asked as he walked up to Kate, with two coffee cups in his hand. Kate couldn't help but smile. _Stop, Kate. It is just coffee. This is a case, focus._

_She's smiling, _Castle thought. That's why he always got her coffee of course. Because she smiled when he did it. And if she didn't have anything else to look forward to in life, she could look forward to this.

Castle handed her the warm cup, but acted like it was nothing. Her hand brushed his as she reached for the cup with a mutter of thanks. Castle tried not to smile.

"Amanda Trender, business woman."

"Yeah, I know her," Castle said, looking closer at the newspaper clipping.

"She was found dead," Kate says, walking up to the paper as well.

"Is the daughter alive?" Castle asked.

"As far as we know," Ryan said.

"I'm thinking our best chance is with her," Castle said pointing to the picture on the newspaper.

"We may not be able to talk to her though," Esposito says.

"Why not?" Kate asked, turning around to face him. Castle smiled when her wavy hair flew by his face. He saw it happen so many times before, but it was still one of the little things about Kate that he loved: her free hair. He liked it so much more when it was long. That being said, he loved Kate's hair no matter how it looked. She could die it puke green, and he would still smile when he saw it.

"Well, I already checked with the hospital she's at. They said that as soon as she woke up, the first thing she said was that she didn't want _any_ visitors," Esposito said.

"Well, that's awfully suspicious of her," Castle said in a doubtful tone. Kate nodded and started looking for the hospital's phone number. "But it's also a little obvious, don't you think?"

"Castle this is a murder, not a book," Kate said, looking up at him.

"No, just imagine it. She's making herself look suspicious so that we think it's too obvious and that she could _never_ be the murderer. She's trying to blame someone else for her dirty work!" Castle exclaimed enthusiastically. The team stared at him.

"I need more coffee," Ryan said walking away from them.

"Castle, it's a long shot," Kate said, trying to reason with her imaginative writer.

"A lot of things I've said have been long shots, but haven't I been right a lot of the time?" Castle said smiling. Kate couldn't help but smile in return.

"I wouldn't say _a lot_ of the time," she murmured. Castle laughed.

"The only thing that I can't figure out is why a daughter would kill her mother. And a wealthy mother at that," Castle wondered aloud. Kate shook her head.

"There could be a lot of reasons. But I think right now we should go investigate the crime scene," Kate said, grabbing her coat off her chair. Castle followed her as they both headed for the elevator.

* * *

As Castle and Beckett walked down the street to the Trender's mansion, Kate couldn't help but look at Rick. He walked with an unnatural swagger, like he owned everything he walked on. But Kate felt a little overwhelmed by his walk as well. She found it… sexy.

"Elaborating further on my theory from earlier, Kate. The daughter killed her mother…"

"We don't know that, Castle. But, yes. Her daughter is a suspect," Beckett agreed, finally taking her eyes off Rick.

"Hear me out on this one," he said, holding up his hands as if to stop her from talking. Kate bit her lip and gave a small grin, allowing Castle to continue. "She knew she would be the first suspect, so she asked for no visitors, making it obvious that she's the killer."

Kate nodded, "But also like you pointed out earlier, she's being a little too obvious. The girl's only 15, and her mother was just killed. Maybe she just wants some time alone to cope. Losing a mom..." Her voice broke a little, but she coughed, trying to cover it up. "Losing a mom is hard," she finished, raising her chin.

"Kate," Castle said tenderly. She looked at him.

"Please, just… let's drop it," she said. He nodded.

"Just imagine it though. The fact that she's 15 makes it all the more perfect!" Rick shouted, enthused. "How would a 15 year old be able to mastermind a way to get out of a murder? She would use what's she's seen on television. What's she's read in books," Castle gestured to himself.

"So, you're saying she would think making herself look suspicious would save her?" Beckett asked, skeptical.

Pointing a Kate, Castle said proudly, "Yes."

"Well, we'll definitely keep that in mind, Castle," Kate said sarcastically.

As Kate began to enter the mansion, Castle rose his hands in disbelief, "What? Are you saying you don't believe it?"

Beckett turned so she was nose to nose with the writer, "No, I'm saying we'll keep it in mind."

Castle hesitated as she walked into the building. "Oh, so she's saying she doesn't believe it," he muttered to himself. He quickly rejoined Beckett, entering the mansion himself.

* * *

*A/N Gah, what do you think? I have the murder all planned out for them to solve, so I think I'll continue. But I want some feedback! Also, I'm starting the ship Castle and Travis the CoffeeMan. #Trastle. *


End file.
